Cruel
by rusted veins
Summary: OC/Scabior. Amelia is the best snatcher around,along with Scabior. When the two pair up drama's bound to happen, especially when the two of them are attracted to each other.
1. Chapter 1

She knew it was wrong. She knew that it wasn't going to work out and that they'd both end up paying for what they were getting into.

But, at that moment, she didn't care.

She didn't even give a single thought about what might happen to both of them if they were caught. She didn't think about the countless things that could and would go wrong.

None of it mattered. It was only the two of them, living in this place they called Earth.

When she thought back about it, she told herself that she should've thought about all those things. It would have saved her a lot of time.

But she didn't regret it, not one bit.


	2. Chapter 2

The woods were eerily quiet as the young woman known as Amelia snuck out of her tent. She knew she didn't have much time; night was quickly approaching, and she couldn't risk being seen by using _lumos_ to light her way.

Amelia slid behind the nearest tree, her boots scrunching the fallen leaves, and looked over to the dainty tent that was pitched right in the middle of a clearing.

The young woman suspected that whoever was in there hadn't been on the run for long, as he didn't use any spells to protect himself and thus, was painfully obvious.

She thought that she could have some fun with this one; make him scared for a while, but as she looked over at her pocket watch, she saw that she didn't have time for that pleasure.

The wind suddenly picked up, making her black hair fly in the wind as she started stalking towards the tent. In a moment, the tent was in shreds on the ground and two young boys were standing up, bewildered.

A quick _petrificus totalus_ and they were both on the ground, shocked expressions painted on their faces. Amelia snickered a bit, kicking at the burnt logs in their pathetic fire pit. Ignoring the two boys still on the ground, she went to inspect what they had in the tent.

It was mostly all trash; she threw almost everything on the ground, smashing numerous objects. Finally, she found a pouch of galleons and a ring that was exceptionally beautiful, and seemed to have been made by goblins. Smirking, Amelia stuffed her loot in the pocket of her leather jacket before going back to see her two prisoners.

As she expected, they didn't look like they had been on the run for long…maybe a couple of weeks at the most. They had probably run away from Hogwarts; they looked young enough. Probably six or seventh years.

Both their gazes were fixed on her, but she didn't flinch. A small smile on her lips, Amelia whispered _incarcerous_, and immediately after ropes twirled around both of them, tying them together.

After that she whispered _finite_, which revived the two young offenders. They immediately started to struggle in the ropes with the hope that they would get away. The young woman watched them with humor drawn on her face, knowing that they weren't going anywhere.

"Now." she said, kneeling down next to them, and checking their clothes. After a minute, both of their wands were in her hand, and she twirled them while looking at the two scared boys in front of her.

"If you want to live you're going to tell me the truth, alright?" she asked with a sickeningly sweet voice, as she kneeled once more so she was eye to eye with the boys.

"Are you runaways from Hogwarts?"

Both of them looked especially terrified, but one of them managed to nod slightly at her.

"Good, you've already got the hang of obeying. Guess they've gotten better over there at good ol' Hogwarts. Now, what are your names?" With that, both boys stopped shaking, looking at her with a slight look of defiance.

"Hm, I see you still have a bit of courage in you. That's nice. Were you two in Gryffindor? Well, I'll tell you something. Courage doesn't take you far, sweeties." With those words, Amelia whipped out her own wand and stuck it under one of their chins.

"Now, what are your names?"

"Please don't hurt us. He's Alrick Hunning, and I'm Derick Hughes." The boy that she had her wand on said, stuttering a bit as he started shaking once again. His companion looked horrified, which made the witch smirk.

As she looked on the list, she saw that the boy was telling the truth.

"Oh, well you two are both Mudbloods. You're going to be worth at least ten galleons, and with your wands that makes another five. Come on now." Amelia was smirking widely at this point. With that said, she took both their arms and with a 'pop', they were in the middle of the ministry. Pius had given every worthy snatcher the permission to apparate directly.

There weren't a lot of snatchers that had been given that permission. Amelia didn't know many,probably because she liked to work alone.

The only other real snatcher she knew was Scabior and his gang. They were her only real competition, or so she had heard. She had never met them, nor did she want to. She knew she was better than them, and their leader Scabior; it wasn't even a discussion.

Amelia dragged the two boys down to the Muggle-Born Registration Commission, ignoring the looks of the employees around her. The two boys were absolutely silent, and they weren't hard to drag along; the witch suspected it was shock.

She entered Umbridge's office, cringing as she did. She really hated the didn't know exactly why, but Amelia couldn't stand the sight of her.

"I've got two more." She said quickly, trying to end things so she could get away from Umbridge.

"Two more? You've already caught three today!" Umbridge uttered, shock and respect mingling in her voice. The young witch threw the two boys on the ground, and Umbridge cast a spell on them.

"Well, I think I'm done for the day."  
>A small smirk appeared on Amelia's face as she told this to the old woman.<p>

"You really are the best snatcher." Umbridge said, her ugly teeth showing upon her frog-like face.

"I know." Amelia declared, before turning around and leaving the horrendous pink room.


	3. Chapter 3

Amelia threw the keys on the table in her hallway as she entered her house. It was a very nice house, compared to what some people had. It was two stories high, cluttered between two smaller houses. It was very old as well, having been owned by a well known Pureblood family in the past.

Amelia could've inherited her grandmother's house. It was even grander than this one, since her grandmother was one of the richest Purebloods around. However Amelia, being the rebellious girl, hadn't wanted it; she had wanted to buy her own house, and she was quite glad she did. Every time she saw her home, a sense of pride filled her.

The hallway was long and narrow, painted in a grey color. Amelia hadn't decided on that color; it was like that when she had bought the house. The walls were bare, making the chipped paint even more noticeable. The young woman didn't take notice of this, though; she was too glad to be home. She had been sleeping in the woods for the past week, so it was always nice to get back home to a nice bed and warm meal.

"Spinky?" Amelia called, waiting to hear the rapid little footsteps of her house elf hurrying to her.

"Oh! Miss Amelia! When did you get here?" the house elf cried out when she entered the hallway, running down it to take Amelia's coat and bag. Amelia laughed at Spinky's agitation, before walking down the hallway and going into the kitchen.

"It's fine, Spinky. What have you been up to this week? I'm sorry I couldn't come home earlier." Amelia said, sitting down at the table as the elf ran around the room, starting dinner.

"It's alright, Miss! I've just been cleaning. Oh, and five men came here the other day. They said that they had special business for you, but wouldn't tell me what it was. They said they'd return Sunday. That's tomorrow, Miss."

Amelia nodded as Spinky placed a bowl of soup on the table.

"Thank you, you're dismissed." Amelia said, knowing if she didn't formally dismiss her, the poor elf would continue to work.

The young woman wondered who these men could be; they were obviously no friends of hers since she had none. Swallowing the boiling hot soup, she decided that it was no use giving herself a headache; she'd find out who they were soon enough anyways.

The next morning she was woken up by the voice of Spinky talking loudly to her, telling her that the men were there again and they wanted to see her. Amelia was up in a second, and was just about to get dressed when Spinky spoke again. "Miss, they said they didn't have much time and that you had to go downstairs right now." The young lady frowned, reluctantly deciding to oblige their request as she dropped the clothes in her hand and headed down the stairs in her pyjamas.

Entering the small living room she used as a waiting room, where Spinky had brought the men, she paused to survey them. There were five of them, just as the elf had said, but only two were sitting down. The other three were upright, standing guard.

"What do you want this early in the morning, gentlemen?" Amelia said, sitting down in the comfy chair in front of the sofa. The men snapped their attention to her, all of their eyes travelling down her body at the same time. "Let's go, I haven't got all day." She uttered, snapping her fingers in front of her. At the sound, all of them looked up at her face.

"Not too nice in the morning, are ya darling?" The man who was obviously the leader said. The young woman shrugged, before sinking in the chair and crossing her legs. "Alright then, we've got a business proposition for you. There are two men that have been, let's say… meddling in our business. We need them gone. We don't care how, but we don't want to see them again. Got it?"

The snatcher considered this, her eyes never wandering away from the man's face. "How much?"  
>"A hundred Galleon's."<p>

"You've got yourself a deal."  
>The two men stood up at the same moment, shaking her hand.<p>

"We'll send you an owl with the details, Miss Mercer. Oh, and we also hired another snatcher; Scabior's gang. Whoever catches them first will get the money, but if you two work together the money will be split between you two. Good luck."

And with that, the men disapparated and Amelia was left in her waiting room, unaware of what she had gotten herself into.

She'd learn soon enough.


	4. Chapter 4

The owl had arrived only two hours after the men had left, with only a couple of words scribbled quickly across the old-looking parchment:

_Daniel Helling.__  
><em>_On the run.__  
><em>_McQuillen Forest.__  
><em>_Fast._

Amelia scowled at the lack of information, but wasted no time in packing herself some new clothes in the sock that she had all of her camping gear in. She had cast a extension charm on it so that she could fit all of her stuff in it, and she could hide it incredibly well; who would think to look in a worn-down sock that she kept in her pocket?

Spinky quickly fixed her some food and bid her goodbye, as Amelia quickly slammed her front door behind her. The morning dew was still in the air as Amelia started walking down the street, not feeling like going into the forest just yet.

The morning was very busy, with people bumping into each other in their hurry to get to their monotone jobs. Shaking her head wearily, the young woman continued to walk the streets until it began to softly rain, annoying her to no end. Mumbling curses at the sky, Amelia started wondering what she should do.

She knew she had to be getting along and start doing some snatching, but all she wanted to do was sit down and drink some coffee. Sighing and muttering a quick 'bloody hell', Amelia ducked into an alley and with a quick pop she was gone, leaving only a bewildered five-year old muggle boy behind.

Amelia steadied herself at once as her feet made contact with the uneven ground, crushing the already damp leaves and snapping a twig. The young woman looked up at the sky, gaining a few droplets of water on her face; thankfully, the trees spared her the rest. After she had pulled her long black hair up in a loose bun and wiped the water off of her face, she started trekking in the forest. Sadly, she had never been in the McQuillen Forest so she didn't know exactly where she was going, although she had a general aspect of it.

She wasn't really that nervous about finding Daniel Helling; she knew she could in a matter of days. Even if he was 'fast', he was no match for her. The only thing she was worried about at that moment was Scabior's gang. Amelia had heard much about them, almost just as much as she had heard about herself. In the Ministry, which of the two parties caught the most outlaws (and whatever they could find on their personal lives), was a subject of gossip. Thankfully, there wasn't much to know about Amelia's life, so she could stay in peace. She knew that Scabior, though, was well known as being a lady's man, although she had no idea how he managed that.

It was already past midday until Amelia found a starting track. There were the remains of a fire that seemed quickly put out not too long ago, and smudged footprints on the ground that gave Daniel Helling away. From the looks of this forest, no one in their right mind would hide in it; it was too dark and eerie. She knew that Scabior's gang wouldn't have been so careless, so it had to have been this Daniel.

Amelia couldn't help but grin at her discovery even though it was getting late, she was tired, and it had started to rain a lot harder. She knew she wasn't going to make great progress that night, so she decided to get settled. The young woman unpacked her tent and quickly put it up; she had practises it so many times before that she could've put it up with a blindfold.

Just as she was about to put protective charms around her camp site, warding off animals and unwanted visitors, she heard a sudden heavy snap and spun around, pulling out her wand in the process. It took her about two seconds to recognize Greyback, his wand pointed at her also. Amelia cringed at him, having always hated the damn werewolf. But before she had the time to say anything, two other men came to her left and right. Just as she turned around again, she was met with the familiar, scruffy-looking face of Scabior.

The latter had a grin set on his face as he advanced towards Amelia, the sound of his boots crushing the ground clearly heard as all five of them stood in silence. The female Snatcher knew that she was trapped; as good of a witch as she was, she was no match for four wizards surrounding her.

"Well, well, what are you doin' in here, beautiful? Shouldn't be out at night like this, ain't good for a pretty little girl like you." Amelia couldn't help but let out a chuckle at Scabior's words.

"Oh, I think I'll be perfectly fine, but thanks for the concern." Sarcasm was clearly dripping from her words as she tapped her index on her wand, a sign of the nervousness that she wasn't ready to show just yet.

"Don't be gettin' smart with me. Greyback here can just as well shred you to pieces," Amelia looked over to the subject, identifying a hungry look in his eyes. She shuddered a bit before turning her attention to Scabior once more. "Now, tell me your name and maybe we'll let you go." After Scabior said that last sentence, Amelia couldn't help but laugh loudly. The gang of Snatchers around her questioningly, not sure why this woman was laughing for no apparent reason.

"You really don't know who I am, do you? Well, please try to use the bit of intelligence you have and figure out who I am. Because honestly, I have better things to do."

With that said, Amelia put her hand on her hip, her wand still in her right hand with a look of pure amusement on her face. The men surrounding her looked at each other once more in confusion, all except Scabior; he left his eyes on the fierce looking woman. It took him a moment of inspecting her, ignoring her dark eyes on him, to finally figure out who this woman was. But when he did, he felt his breath hitch in his throat. This couldn't be her, could it? The one that he had heard so much about? He had never thought that she would be so damn hot...and so damn sarcastic.

"You're Amelia Mercer?" Scabior asked, making Amelia grin as she could feel the men looking at each other with shock.

"The one and only. Although, I will admit, I'm quite disappointed. I thought you would've done some quick research about your opponent. Now, if you gentlemen will kindly go the hell away, I could get some rest. I'm not quite fun to be around when I don't."

Scabior was clearly shocked and rattled at Amelia's fast responses and lack of fear, but he made a remarkable comeback as he smirked down at her due to the fact that he was about a head taller than her.

"Well, love, I'm actually in quite the hurry to get out of this damned forest already. Too damp for me, and I'm sure you feel the same way. So to make things go faster, how about we work together to catch this Daniel Helling? Split half and half, won't matter anyways; I'm sure you make enough money as it is."

Amelia bit her lip, a sign of deep thought; she did hate this forest, and was eager to get back home. But she didn't quite trust Scabior's gang, for clear reasons, and was very apathetical about having to be around them.

"Look, we won't hurt you, okay? I swear that I won't let anyone lay a hand on you, as long as you do the same for us." Scabior took his hand out, and after a moment, Amelia shook it.

Scabior then ordered the two un-named men to pack Amelia's tent while Scabior and Greyback seemed to be having a heated discussion a few feet away. Amelia looked at the two men, feeling bad for them and a bit awkward.

"So, do you two have names?" She asked, maybe a bit too harshly as both of them looked up quickly. Amelia offered them a small smile, letting know that she wasn't mad or anything, and their faces turned peaceful once more.

"My name's Arthur." The one on the right, with the fair hair, said.

"And I'm Oliver." The one with the darker hair said softly, while finishing packing the tent.

"Nice to meet you both. I'm Amelia." The young woman took the folded tent and put it in her sock that she had pulled out, watching the eyes of the two men grow in astonishment. "Neat trick, eh?" But before they had the chance to reply, the snapping voice of Greyback cut through the air.

"You lot ready yet? Haven't got all night." Amelia tried her best to hide the deep scowl that decorated her face, but wasn't quite successful as Scabior chocked a laugh. The three other men looked at him questioningly, but didn't speak.

It didn't take the gang long to get to the Snatcher's camp, which Amelia was glad of; she honestly couldn't feel her feet anymore. It was just a small, simple tent that they had, although she knew that it was a magical tent and was probably very big inside. After asking what kind of spells they had around the place, she cast a few others and then began setting up her tent again. There was no way she was sleeping in the same tent as they were.

Amelia didn't even take the time to say something close to a goodnight to the others. As soon as she hit the old pillow that she carried, she was brought into a deep slumber.

Little did she know that Scabior was at the entrance of her tent, looking thoughtfully at her sleeping form through the thin fabric of the tent.


End file.
